- Colonel Moammar Gadaffi of Libya has been buying complete
sets of uranium enrichment centrifuges on the international black market
as the central element in his secret nuclear bomb programme, according
to United Nations nuclear inspectors.
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- The ease with which the complex bomb-making equipment
was acquired has stunned experienced international inspectors. The scale
and the sophistication of the networks supplying so-called rogue states
seeking nuclear weapons are considerably more extensive than previously
believed.
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- The purchase of full centrifuges, either assembled or
in parts, marks a radical departure in what is on offer on the black market,
sources said. While it is not yet clear where Gadaffi obtained the centrifuge
systems, at least 1,000 machines, believed to have been made in Malaysia,
were seized last October by the Italian authorities on a German ship bound
for Libya.
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- Diplomatic sources familiar with the results of a recent
visit to Libya by nuclear experts from the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) said the Gadaffi bomb programme differed in crucial respects
from nuclear projects in Iran, Iraq or North Korea.
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- "What was found in Libya marks a new stage in proliferation,"
said one knowledgeable source. "Libya was buying what was available.
And what is available, the centrifuges, are close to turnkey facilities.
That's a new challenge. Libya was buying something that's ready to wear."
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- As the climax to nine months of secret negotiations with
British and United States intelligence, Gadaffi announced last month that
he was renouncing his weapons of mass destruction programmes after purchasing
what sources said were "a few thousand" centrifuges for enriching
uranium to weapons grade.
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- Another well-placed source said: "We all now realise
there is this extraordinarily developed and sophisticated market out there
enabling anyone to get this centrifuge equipment."
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- Mohammed El Baradei, the IAEA chief, visited Libya a
couple of weeks ago to view the Libyan equipment and take charge of the
upcoming effort to dismantle the Libyan bomb programme. He described the
experience as "an eye-opener".
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- A centrifuge is made up of hundreds of separate components.
Typically, a country covertly seeking the uranium enrichment technology
will seek to cover its tracks by obtaining a design blueprint and then
purchasing the varied components separately from different suppliers.
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- The German ship was seized by Italians after a tip-off
from the CIA. Knowledgeable sources said the centrifuges on board were
"made to order" in Malaysia for Libya, based on designs directly
or indirectly from Pakistan.
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- While US government sources have claimed that the seizure
persuaded Gadaffi to do his deal with Washington and London, diplomats
and analysts closely following the nuclear trade are convinced that the
ship was impounded because of information provided by the Libyans.
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- According to this version circulating in Vienna, headquarters
of the IAEA, Gadaffi told the CIA about the shipment as a goodwill gesture
to convince the Americans and the British that he was committed to the
deal being negotiated.
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- A Finnish expert leading the IAEA investigations into
the Libyan and Iranian nuclear projects has so far been denied access to
the equipment impounded by the Italians, apparently because of the tug-of-war
between the Americans and the Vienna agency over how to dismantle the Libyan
programme.
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- Senior US and British officials are due in Vienna on
Monday to negotiate with El Baradei over how to proceed in Tripoli. The
Americans will be led by John Bolton, the hawk in charge of nuclear proliferation
issues at the State Department. He has a reputation for scorning the UN
agencies and his officials disparaged the El Baradei trip to Tripoli as
a publicity stunt.
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2004 http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=29776
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